Taking In Strays
by The Bard's Apprentice
Summary: The Deadly Trio decide to grab a quick bite on a Central Florida backroad.
1. Chapter 1

I'm a huge fan of Poppy & Lost Souls? in particular. Pardon OC please, she's more of an inanimate object after the first couple chapters anyway. :grin:

PLEASE REVIEW!

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**Taking In Strays**

The figure walked calmly along the highway, mid-thigh skirt swaying slightly with her movements. The tall grass in the roadside ditch was still in the flaccid evening. The thick air hung heavy with the taunt of rain that would not come. Clouds made the dusk darker, sky bleeding into the distant hills of Central Florida's grazing land.

The headlights of an approaching Chevy illuminated her back. It sped by as she kept walking, the two entities ignoring one other. Disinterested eyes made out the bumper stickers that faded into the half light and she hitched a wife-beater clad shoulder, adjusting the mini-backpack covered in patches and buttons.

Her only necessary possessions resided in that pack: her poetry-filled notebooks and sketch pad, pages smudged and dog-eared, a pen and pencil, as well as a wallet made of duct tape and stuffed with bills and little scraps of paper with quotations on them. There was also a book, _Wormwood_, which was near to falling apart, spine disintegrating and pages dog-eared. The book had been given to her by a friend and she'd found the short stories an acceptable way to waste her time. She carried this assortment with her everywhere in her ratty, velveteen patchwork bag.

She'd been sitting in the mall's food court, waiting for her friends to finish shopping, when it occurred to her to leave – to just leave. So she'd stood from the table, walked to the double glass doors, and crossed the sweltering asphalt of the parking lot. When she'd reached the street, she'd kept walking. There was nothing better to do.

The young night seemed to sigh, cuing the crickets' first songs. A lonely star dotted the monotonous deep blue of the sky, unnoticed by the girl, just as the soft slap of her converses on the pavement went unnoticed, and the hum of another approaching engine.

Something made her turn for this one, acknowledging the vans approach, a prickling sensation, as if the vehicle were reaching out to touch her, to caress or possibly engulf her. The fields of stark light did not rush past this time. The black van slowed and a head and elbow stuck out at her from the passenger window. He was unremarkable in the gloom, but for the young grin plastered on his face. An eerie green luminance silhouetted his head, and exposed his similarly grinning companion behind the wheel.

She stopped and faced the van, surprised when it continued to roll a few feet before the side door was flung open along its tracks. A somber yet thrillingly exquisite face stared out at her.

In a moment she knew. These three who stopped for a lone girl on an empty road in the sticks and peered at her hungrily from within their large, black, empty van weren't normal. And they wouldn't claim just the normal payment from a pretty girl on the side of the road. The one in the back gave her a kind smile, his bright green eyes softening and shining in the twilight.

"You need a ride?" his mouth hardly seemed to move, but his voice was smooth and his words clear. She knew, but she decided it didn't matter. She knew, but she said yes anyway.

The eyes and smile did not falter as a pale hand was offered to help her into the van. She stepped up carefully and allowed herself to be guided by the hand to a mattress in the corner while her eyes adjusted. The green light came from a homemade lava lamp between the front seats, powered by an unknown source. The door slammed shut and she looked around at the stained and bumper sticker-clad interior. Green Eyes approached the mattress on his knees, slick black hair reflecting the dull light. Just as he passed in front of her the van lurched forward, sending him directly on top of her. A sharp-nailed hand caught at her arm, his body thrown against hers, his head falling just above her breasts. She allowed gravity to take her down onto the slightly fragrant mattress beneath them. There was a quick, deep intake of breath before he quickly pushed up and growled toward the front, "Twig, you jackass!" The answering hysterical cackle proved his accusation.

Green Eyes settled against the wall, glowering at the backs of the seats. After a moment he turned his attention back to the girl, smiling his ensnaring smile at her. "Ignore them. They're just a couple of young punks." She nodded in understanding and watched him. His hands were smooth and pale, fingers long and graceful, his nails sharp and painted in some dark shade, indecipherable in the dim light. The clothes were nondescript except for being all black. She remembered the pressure of his warm body heavy atop her, his warm breath on her skin, and thought that she might just enjoy what surely lay ahead.


	2. Chapter 1 & a half

Okay. Here's the second chapter (actually the second part of the first, but hey. :shrug:)  
Did i forget to mention that this is set BEFORE Lost Souls? & Nothing's birth? early 80's maybe.

Enjoy! & REVIEW!

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She figured she might as well precipitate the inevitable. "Where're you fellas headed?"

Green Eyes'smile grew. "North aways. 'There somewhere you want us to drop you?" He smirked a little at this.

She laughed internally at his joke too, and then shook her head. She held his steady gaze as she replied, "You can just _dump_ me anywhere." It was a casual statement, save for the subtle emphasis she artfully put on "dump." His brilliant eyes flashed as he openly appraised her more carefully.

She thought of something she'd heard and decided to change tacks. "It's a full moon tonight, isn't it?" She caught movement from the front and noticed the occupant of the passengers' seat watching her and glancing occasionally at Green Eyes.

The shining orbs grew brighter and wider in the nodding head. "Above the haze, yes." He paused a moment, still contemplating her coolly. "You know something we don't?"

She faltered slightly and wondered if she could have made a mistake in her boredom. Then she decided to put the ball back in her companions' court. "Maybe. Though it's probably the other way around." She forced herself to hold Green Eyes' gaze, as his smile turned to a feral grin and her heart began to race. She took a larger gamble.

"No matter who knows what though, you're probably lonely … and thirsty." She let her eyes trail over the empty bottles rolling around the back of the van with them as she finished.

The front seat onlooker drew in an audible breath and looked to Green Eyes who studied her thoughtfully a moment more. He suddenly burst into a loud bark of a laugh, throwing back his head. The meager light glinted on strange teeth. He returned his attention to her as his companion joined them, sitting against the back of the seat he had previously inhabited.

Green Eyes silently acknowledged her with a nod. "So…" The statement concealed innumerous ambiguous questions. However, his brilliant eyes no longer hid that which had been lying behind the quiet façade.

She swallowed and answered the first question she perceived. "I figured you may as well not have to wait." She shrugged nonchalantly. Green Eyes chuckled and a light lit in his companion's eyes. He kept them trained on his leader now, as if asking or waiting for permission. But Green Eyes ignored him, easing forward and crawling languidly over to where she sat on the mattress' edge, legs folded and slanted off to one side. He placed his hands on the fabric close beside either of her thighs, effectively straddling her with his upper body. He started to lean forward, when her velveteen bag was pushed into his chest. She looked deep into the mesmerizing depths of his emerald orbs as she made her first offering.

"There's two hundred bucks in there, and these might be worth something if you pawn them." She removed the silver and amethyst dragons from her ears and held them out for him. He smiled his self-assured smirk again and shoved the earrings into a pocket as he tossed the bag aside. His eyes never once left her face, except to unceremoniously glance over her second "gift."

He continued his advances and she went down willingly beneath him. At the sensation of his body fully covering hers once more she forced herself to speak.

"One question." His brow furrowed in curious annoyance. "Your name?" the alluring smirk flashed again.

"It doesn't matter." He lowered his head, sucking at her collar bone.

Between deep, steadying breaths and low moans she explained. 'Well, I have to know what to scream." Her tone teased enough to make the flashes of brilliant green rise to meet hers again. Through a quirk of a smile he murmured, "Zillah."


End file.
